1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of storage racks and is particularly directed towards such storage racks that are specifically intended to be attached to a door particularly the inner side of a closet or pantry door and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantages of converting the inner side of a closet or pantry door and the like to a storage rack have been recognized for several decades. See, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,807 granted to Whitney on Nov. 7, 1950. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that one particular disadvantage to the Whitney invention is that particularly tall or top-heavy articles that may be stored on the shelving disclosed by him would not be properly supported since the rather narrow upturned flange is limited in its ability to prevent these type articles from falling from the shelf as the door is swung closed.
Another disadvantage to shelving conforming to the above mentioned patent is that all of the shelves are equal depth, therefore, small items even though they are not particularly tall or top-heavy would still lack adequate support when placed on the shelves. In other words, an ideal arrangement would be to include structure for adjusting the depth of the article supporting rack so that it might be arranged for properly constraining various articles of different sizes and shapes.
In addition, the advantages of utilizing dowel rods as support structure in the construction of article supporting racks has been recognized for many decades. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,008,748 granted to Crow on July 23, 1935 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,192 granted to Hoffman on Mar. 28, 1939. It should be recognized that the latter two patents are specifically directed towards free standing merchandise display racks particularly for displaying shoes. Moreover, none of the above mentioned patents suggests or discloses applicant's device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed toward overcoming the disadvantages and problems relative to previous article supporting racks. The article supporting rack of the present invention is particularly adapted for attachment to a door, e.g., the inner side of a closet or pantry door and the like. The device includes a plurality of dowel rods which are supported at either end thereof by being received in selected ones of numerous holes provided in frame members which are attached to the door. The dowel rods may be thusly installed in various arrangements selectively compatible with various articles intended to be supported by the device in an optimum array for easy and ready access thereto.
An important feature of the present invention is that the device may be assembled in such a manner that certain of the dowel rods establish a railing for constraining any such supported articles in a substantially fixed disposition irrespectively of any swinging action which the door may experience.
Another important feature of the present invention is that the depth of the individual rack may be adjustable so that it may be arranged to be fully compatible with various articles of different sizes and shapes. In addition, the invention is not limited to merely having one dowel rod establishing a railing but anticipates using a plurality of dowel rods for constraining particularly tall or top-heavy articles. Thus, the adjustment may be in and out as well as up and down, and may be rearranged as the need arises.
Moreover, the device may optionally include an intermediate frame member which is particularly advantageous in supporting heavy articles. In addition, the intermediate frame member enables the rack to be arranged with a narrow vertical section and a wider vertical section to readily accommodate articles of different sizes.
The articles usually might be supported directly by the dowel rod, i.e., particularly when the articles have a flat bottom. On the other hand, certain articles, e.g., particularly ladies' shoes and the like may tend to fall through the spacing between the dowel rods. Therefore, the present invention may optionally include a horizontally disposed platelike support member for enhancing the effectiveness of the shelf. In other words, the platelike support member overlays the dowel rods and provides an uninterrupted support surface for receiving certain ones of the numerous articles.
Further, a single dowel rod may be arranged between the frame members for supporting men's ties or belts and the like.